“Let’s not make the perfect the enemy of the essential.”

I’d like to make the case for the not-so-perfect. President Obama said this to lobby for his economic stimulus plan. However, it applies to so many things in life. The pursuit of perfection (which is arguably an impossible goal) can stall any action at all. Who or what is truly free from fault or defect? And in spending time seeking perfection, what other valuable things are we not doing?

When I’ve heard someone (usually a boss) ask for people to give 110 percent, I wonder if they skipped math class. That “go get ’em” attitude is ingrained in our culture. And yet this quote seems to applaud a really great effort – it values trying. So, instead of seeking perfection, let’s be thoughtful, let’s strive, and let’s remember to look for the lesson found when we stumble.

“Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.”

Many sentences from President Barack Obama’s speech today will ring throughout history. I especially liked his string of traits in this passage. They aren’t the common ones. Yes, patriotism was there but so was curiosity. Curiosity speaks to America’s spirit of innovation – something we need to revive to meet environmental and other challenges. That desire to know more is one trait which will pull our nation up from its burdens.

There are few times when I felt at that moment I witnessed history – when my parents woke me up to see the first man on the moon, when the space shuttle exploded – this was another. Truly a new era has begun…

“The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it — and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.” John Kennedy’s inaugural address on Jan. 20, 1961.

Writing any presidential speech must be a daunting task. Even since Barack Obama was elected, new economic and political crises seem to erupt each day. No president-elect has ever been more prepared before taking office or has needed to be. So what is Obama preparing to tell us on January 20th? How will he assure us with the appropriate balance of optimism and realism? And what will Obama tell us he can actually do to fix our mind-boggling problems? The world watches and waits…

“What city are you in daddy?”

There were many moving sentences at last night’s Democratic National Convention – from Edward Kennedy saying nothing (not even cancer) would keep him away, to Michelle Obama talking about the American dream. But I liked what was probably the only unscripted moment of the evening – little Sasha asking the presumptive nominee where he was. This can’t have been a “normal” year for the Obama’s two girls with all the cameras, late nights and traveling. But then normal people don’t make history.